Joshua is Three!

I have a three year old boy! Eeek! Do you know what that means? Mostly it means that there is an explosion every morning of trucks and trains across the living room floor, Thomas the Train is the most requested cartoon, and that there is a great deal of laughter in our house now associated with bodily functions of all kinds, but it also means that there is an easy going, very sweet three year old boy in our house who loves snuggles and delights us daily with his contagious enthusiasm. Our lives continue to be blessed so much by this little guy! 

Joshua chose to ride on a train this year instead of having a party, so we celebrated as a family on Tuesday and then I brought in cupcakes (Thomas the Train, of course) for his class on Wednesday. 

Since Joshua's birthday choice was to ride on a train, we went up to Branson to ride on the Branson Scenic Railway. The train ride is about an hour and forty-five minutes of scenic overlooks that were especially pretty this time of year with the changing leaves. Jeremy had a day off in the middle of the week, so we took advantage of it and went on a Thursday. It wasn't too crowded, and the kids all had a blast! 

The excitement on their faces totally made up for the "we didn't nap long enough" crying in the car on the way home! Happy third birthday to my sweet Joshua! 

Back to School

When I said September snuck up on me, I meant it! We are already two weeks into the school year, and we are loving the kids new school! After moving, we've had tons of options, and after some research and recommendations, we chose to put them in a mdo program just twice a week. It's not much, but it's all of them! On our days that we are not at school, we are doing a mix of educational and fun activities. I am loving the change of pace! We aren't as rushed out the door in the mornings, and since this is the last year that this is going to be possible, I'm enjoying every moment! It really is a sweet time, because this is the last year of having K home with me. Next it's kindergarten and then driving and college and she'll be walking down the isle to marry her prince...so maybe that's a little over dramatic! But, next year is kindergarten, and so I'm enjoying my spitfire, full of energy little blond haired girl while she is still home with me most of the day! 

Our first day of schools pictures!

And here's a few recent pictures that completely crack me up and make me so thankful that I get to be home with these kiddos during this fun stage in their lives!

Happy school year! 

The End of Summer

September has a way of sneaking up on you! Our summer was filled with vacationing and fun, so before it turns to fall and there are other fun things to update everyone on, here's a little bit of what we have been up to this summer.

Jeremy was on vacation from work from about April until September, and since that has not ever happened before and will probably never happen again, you better believe we took advantage of it!

Our first stop was Daytona Beach and Orlando, Florida where we spent time with family, hung out at the beach, and went to an Air Museum, Sea World, and Downtown Disney. The kids had a blast!

Our first stop at the beach, fully clothed, because we just couldn't wait to go and get in the sand! 

At the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville. 

Waiting for the whales and looking at the fishies at Sea World!

Kirsten became a princess for a day at Downtown Disney's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. 

Our next stop was to visit family in Tennessee on the way to Arkansas. We had so much fun catching up, the kids love, love, love their cousins, and we appreciated their hospitality in the midst of our journey so much! 

K and J jumping and playing dress up at the same time?!? Little girl heaven!

Trying to get four kids to sit still on the couch and smile at the same time is nearly impossible, but I thought this was a pretty good effort! 

Our next adventure was to Charleston, SC. For some reason I had it in my head that Charleston was eight hours away from us here in Little Rock.

I. Was. Wrong.

When we got in the car at 6am, I was in for a shock when I typed the address into our gps! Nevertheless, eleven hours later, we had a fantastic time catching up with one of Jeremy's best friends since high school and meeting his wife and son for the first time. It was an adventure, and you all know how much we love those!

The kids exploring downtown Charelston and playing in the fountain! 

Our next trip was up to Pennsylvania to visit with more family. The weather was so mild for the middle of the summer! And we were very blessed to be able to see and catch up with Jeremy's sister after not seeing her in a few years! 

Gorgeous double rainbow off of Jeremy's parent's back porch. 

Posing like the flamingos (Grandma's favorite!) at the animal park!

Idlewild Amusment Park! The kids had a blast, and Kirsten and Auntie Em bonded on the roller coasters!

Riding with Grandma on the Trolley at the Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.

And what trip up to Pennsylvania is complete without a tractor ride? Joshua and Grandpa had a great time together!

On the way home, we stopped and saw Matt and Jenn in Ohio and met their little guy, Andrew! The last time we were all in the same room together was at their wedding, back before these cute little kiddos joined our families!

 

 

Our final trip of the summer was a trip just for me...something that I've never done before! Plane rides have never been so relaxing! Jeremy held the fort down at home while I flew back to Florida to see my best friend from high school and go to our 10 year reunion. The weekend was relaxing and so much fun! 

Although we had a great time being able to visit so many great people this summer, most of all, we were blessed to have a fantastic summer together as a family! Three years of overseas living, a very high ops tempo, and then pilot training have taught us to appreciate every single second of family time! 

Birthdays and Birthday Parties

My babies are growing up! We kicked off the summer by celebrating Kirsten's fourth birthday. She's getting to be such a big girl and is always mommy's little helper getting the boys things that they need and keeping them in line (she's a sassy one for sure!). 

We celebrated on her birthday with cupcakes and her best friend since birth, Nathan. 

They say that babies don't play together, but Nathan and Kirsten were the exception always following each other around from toy to toy, even when they were itty-bitty! Here's a picture from play group when they were only a few months old. 

We are so blessed to be able to be stationed together again! Kirsten missed her Natey-dawg while we were in Texas! 

These two celebrated their birthdays together at The Little Gym, and had a fantastic time! A big thank you to Karen for suggesting a joint party and organizing things before we even made it into town! 

The next birthday we celebrated was Caleb's first birthday. This little guy has gotten so big and brings so much joy to our lives! 

Here is a picture of him when we brought him home from the nicu. He barely fit in his carseat at only 4 pounds! 

And here is a recent photo. He is up to 18 pounds and 28.5 inches!

Since the 4th of July was the day that we brought him home, we celebrated Caleb's birthday with a red, white, and blue themed party. It was so much fun to celebrate our little guy with some old friends and some great new friends as well! I was so busy having fun that I didn't snap many pictures during the festivities, but here are a few that I took before everyone arrived. 

And here's the birthday boy!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! 

Endings and New Beginnings

We have wrapped up our time in Del Rio, Texas. I wasn't sure that I would be sad to leave the small border town where it takes three hours to get to civilization (aka Starbucks and Target), but as the moving van came and loaded all of our things, I knew that I would.

There is a great deal that happened in this house. It's where Joshua learned to walk and talk, where we brought Caleb home from the hospital, and it will always have a special place in my heart. We made some great friends here through Jeremy's UPT class, through bible studies, with our neighbors, and through the Officer Spouse Club. We are so blessed to have made life long friends here. Since we only had a year here, I don't feel like we got to know everyone as much as we could have, so I hope that one day we will be stationed together again. Because it's a small Air Force, and it's always "see you later" instead of "goodbye."

We were also very blessed for Kirsten and Joshua to go to an amazing preschool while we lived here. The Methodist Day School was the best first preschool experience they could have had with amazing teachers who loved and guided them, teaching academic and biblical principals. They will both miss the school, their friends, and their teachers!

 

 



 

Now our new adventure begins in Little Rock, Arkansas! We couldn't be more excited to be in a town that we are somewhat familiar with and where we have great friends. We've had a ton of help from friends moving in already and are so, so very grateful for everything! We have appreciated all of the advice on the best locations to live, the best preschools, elementary schools, churches, and fun things to do with little ones as well as everyone who lent us things that we needed when we first got here. We can't wait to get to know our neighbors (who already seem fantastic bringing over gifts and offering to help or babysit), people in the community, and reconnect with old friends as well!